Seven cases of analgesic nephropathy due to excessive ingestion of paracetamol are reported. None of these patients had been taking any other analgesic. All had radiological features of papillary necrosis. With the increasing use of paracetamol as a mild analgesic it is necessary to be aware of the possibility that paracetamol may induce analgesic nephropathy.
In a prospective study performed on patients admitted to the medical and renal wards of General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, over a period of 14 months from January 1982, we documented 12 new cases of analgesic nephropathy (AN). Since then up to July 1986, we have documented a further 16 cases of AN giving a total of 28 cases over a four-and-a-half-year period.
A prospective study was performed on patients admitted to the medical and renal wards of General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. Over a period of 14 months from 1 January 1982, 12 new cases of analgesic nephropathy (AN) were documented. Contrary to the experience in the West and in Australia, AN in Malaysia tends to have a male preponderance and occurs even in the younger age groups. The common analgesics abused are paracetamol, Chap Kaki Tiga and Chap Harimau. The main reasons for analgesic abuse are headache and arthritis. In addition to radiological features of renal papillary necrosis patients have the other manifestations of the disease such as peptic ulceration, anaemia, neuro-psychiatric disorders and ischaemic heart disease.
We report two cases of acute renal failure that followed the ingestion of jering. Features of jering poisoning included clinical presentation of bilateral loin pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, oligo-anuria, haematuria and passage of sandy particles in the urine. Blood urea (40.8 mmol/l; 21.9 mmol/l) and serum creatinine (1249 mumols/l; 693 mumols/l) were markedly elevated. With conservative therapy which included rehydration with normal saline and alkalinisation of the urine with sodium bicarbonate, the acute renal failure resolved.
A total of 164 patients with IgA nephropathy were diagnosed at the Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the Department of Nephrology, General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur between 1981-1988. This represented an incidence of 20.1% of all primary glomerulopathies seen in both units. The 3 major ethnic groups were equally affected with 59.7% occurring between the ages of 20-36 years. It was not uncommon in females. The high prevalence of hypertension, renal failure, heavy proteinuria at presentation and the increased chronicity index in the biopsy, suggest that IgA nephropathy is progressive disease leading to chronic renal failure.
Two-hundred and sixty-five patients with asymptomatic proteinuria and/or haematuria were studied at the Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Department of Nephrology, General Hospital Kuala Lumpur. They represented 25.4% of all the renal biopsies performed during the period 1980-88. All the three races were affected with 71.3% occurring between the ages of 20-39 years and 41.1% were detected during routine medical examination. Excluding those patients with lupus nephritis, IgA nephropathy was the commonest histological diagnosis (51.7%). The presence of severe and advanced histological changes in a significant number of biopsies emphasises the need for more effective screening and early referral of this group of patients.
Between 1980-1986, 219 renal biopsies were performed on patients with lupus nephritis (LN) presenting at the General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. There were 172 (78.5%) females and 47 (21.5%) males. The ethnic distribution of 48.4% Malays, 46.1% Chinese and 5.5% Indians reflected their proportional composition in the general population. Peak incidence (40.6%) of cases occurred in the third decade of life (20-29 group) followed by 26.5% and 20.1% in the second and fourth decades respectively. The median age was 24 for females and 27 for males. In both sexes, nephrotic syndrome was the commonest mode of presentation (62.2%) followed by proteinuria (20.5%). Acute oliguric renal failure occurred in 11 patients (5%) and 8 of these showed crescentic glomerulonephritis with more than 50% crescents. The commonest histological picture was diffuse proliferative LN (WHO Stage IV-44.7%) which included 70% (19/27) of those with crescentic disease. This was followed by membranous LN (28.8%) of which 6 (all males) had crescentic disease. 7 (12.3%) of our patients had crescentic nephritis with a female to male distribution of 14: 13, suggesting either more aggressive disease or delayed diagnosis in males.
Key words - Renal biopsies, lupus nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, proteinuria.
We questioned 180 patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance haemodialysis, chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and those who had undergone renal transplantation at the Department of Nephrology, General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. Twelve patients (6.7%) had consumed excessive quantities ofanalgesics prior to the institution of long-term dialysis or transplantation. Primary renal disease was considered to be analgesic nephropathy in seven patients (3.9%); in five patients (2.8%), analgesic abuse could have been a contributory factor to end-stage renal failure. Analgesic nephropathy is hence an uncommon cause of end-stage renal disease in Malaysia. However, it is important to be aware of the problem and to institute preventive measures as the cost of treatment for end-stage renal disease is prohibitive.